>> ERIC: NEXT WEDNESDAY IS THE 56TH ANNIVERSARY OF EARTH DAY.

AND APRIL IS SEVERE WEATHER AWARENESS MONTH.

THAT'S NOT ONE BUT TWO GREAT REASONS TO TALK WITH OUR NEXT TWO GUESTS.

PAUL DOUGLAS.

WHEN HE'S NOT TALKING WEATHER WITH US, YOU CAN CATCH HIS PREDICTIONS IN THE STAR TRIBUNE.

HE ALSO RUNS HIS OWN WEATHER COMPANY, PREDICT-IX.

AND NOW HAS WEATHER LOON.

>> YES.

>> Eric: YOU'RE BUSY.

MARK SEELEY BACK WITH US TONIGHT.

HE IS THE AUTHOR OF "MINNESOTA WEATHER ALMANAC" AND A PROFESSOR EMERITUS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA.

PROFESSOR, WHAT'S THE LINK BETWEEN WEATHER AND CLIMATE AND EARTH DAY?

>> OH, MY GOODNESS, THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION.

THE ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH WE LIVE, EARTH DAY WAS FOUNDED IN 1970 ABOUT ALL THE CONCERNS FOR AIR AND WATER, ERIC.

AND AIR AND WATER ARE ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS OF OUR CLIMATE SYSTEM.

AND OUR WEATHER SYSTEMS.

AND WE'RE RICH IN THOSE RESOURCES HERE IN THE STATE OF MINNESOTA.

WE HAVE A LOT TO PROTECT AND A LOT TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT.

>> Cathy: DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN YOU WERE A YOUNG WHIPPER SNAPPER, PAUL DOUGLAS, AND YOU WERE PROBABLY, WHAT, 10 OR SOMETHING DURING EARTH DAY, FIRST ONE, I DON'T KNOW, I HAVE NO IDEA, BUT DO YOU REMEMBER -- IT MAKE AN IMPACT ON YOU AS A YOUNG LAD?

>> I WAS 12 YEARS OLD, GROWING UP IN LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA, I REMEMBER TAKING A BUSINESS TRIP WITH Y FATHER TO PITTSBURGH AND WEARING A T-SHIRT, A WHITE T-SHIRT, COME BACK FROM PITTSBURGH MY WHITE T-SHIRT WAS ORANGE.

I MEAN, THAT'S HOW BAD THE AIR POLLUTION WAS.

I GREW UP ON THE EAST COAST, NOT ONCE DID I EVER HEAR THE EXPRESSION "QUALITY OF LIFE."

UNTIL I MOVED TO MINNESOTA IN 1983.

AND IT DAWNED ON ME, GRADUALLY OVER TIME, WE LIVE IN A RESORT.

SURROUNDED BY A CONSTELLATION OF 11,862 LAKES.

WHO'S COUNTING?

A WATERY BUFFET.

WHICH LAKE DO YOU WANT TO HANG OUT ON TODAY?

AND I'M STILL GOB SMACKED BY THAT.

BUT MINNESOTA WASN'T ALWAYS LIKE THAT.

IN THE 1800s, MUCH OF THAT CENTURY, WE WERE AN EXTRACTION STATE, RIGHT?

CLEAR CUTTING OF MASSIVE PINE FORESTS, THE LUMBER INDUSTRY WAS KING.

UNTIL LATE IN THE 1800s, A CRITICAL MASS OF MINNESOTANS SAID, YOU KNOW WHAT?

A PLUNDERED STATE IS AN UNLIVABLE STATE.

SO THEY PUT UP GUARDRAILS.

THE ITASCA STATE PARK, 1891, WE LIVE IN A RESORT TODAY BECAUSE OUR GREAT GRANDPARENTS HAD THE FORESIGHT TO REALIZE THAT PROTECTING THE HEADWATERS OF THE MISSISSIPPI, WAY MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANOTHER LUMBER SHIPMENT.

WE ARE BENEFICIARIES OF THEIR STEWARDSHIP.

AND I HOPE WE CAN PASS THAT ON TO OUR GRANDKIDS' GRANDKIDS.

SAY THE SAME THING ABOUT US.

>> Cathy: AND THANK YOU FOR BRINGING UP STEWARDSHIP BECAUSE THE OPJORDAN FAMILY.

>> OH, GOSH.

>> Cathy: THEY'RE MINNESOTANS WHO TAKE PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY, PERSONAL STEWARDSHIP, AS PAUL WAS TAKING ABOUT.

FOR FOLKS WHO DON'T KNOW, THEY'RE IN MYELIN.

>> CHIPPEWA COUNTY IN WESTERN MINNESOTA.

WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL.

WE LOST MARTHA AND LUTHER EARLIER THIS YEAR.

THEY BOTH PASSED AWAY.

FOUR GENERATIONS F OPJORDANS, HAVE KEPT 133 YEARS OF CLIMATE RECORDS.

>> Eric: HOW MANY?

>> 133 YEARS OF CLIMATE RECORDS.

>> Eric: WOW.

>> THEY'VE ALREADY HARDLY MISSED ANY OBSERVATIONS, ERIC.

>> Eric: WOW.

>> AND THAT THEIR STATION IN CHIPPEWA COUNTY HAS BECOME PART OF THE NATIONAL HISTORICAL CLIMATE NETWORK, WHICH IS USED TO SUBSTANTIATE ALL THE SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE ABOUT THE PACE OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND WHAT IT'S DOING.

AND THEY WERE STEWARDS OF THAT FOR THEIR COMMUNITY AND THEY WERE RECOGNIZED WHEN THEY BOTH PASSED AWAY EARLIER THIS EAR, THEY WERE RECOGNIZED FOR THAT CONTRIBUTION.

WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL.

WE HAVE MANY CITIZENS IN MINNESOTA THAT ARE SO, THANKFULLY, SO DILIGENT ABOUT KEEPING TRACK OF THE ENVIRONMENT FOR US AND CONTRIBUTING TO ALL THE RICH DATA THAT PAUL AND I USE TO TALK ABOUT THE WEATHER AND CLIMATE.

WITHOUT THEM WE'D BE LOST, RIGHT?

>> ABSOLUTELY.

>> ABSOLUTELY.

>> Cathy: WE WERE TALKING ABOUT EARTH DAY.

BUT I'VE GOT TO BRING THIS UP TODAY.

WE HAD ANOTHER OUTBREAK OF SEVERE WEATHER.

STEWARTVILLE, MINNESOTA, EVIDENTLY, MIGHT HAVE BEEN HIT BY A TORNADO, WOULD THAT BE RIGHT, DID I HEAR THAT RIGHT?

>> THERE WERE TORNADOES TODAY JUST SOUTH OF ROCHESTER THAT WERE SHOWING UP ON MnDOT'S TRAFFIC CAMERAS.

WHICH I'VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE.

BUT QUITE AN OUTBREAK.

IT'S BEEN A BUSY YEAR FOR SOUTHERN MINNESOTA, A BUSY APRIL.

NOT THAT UNUSUAL TO HAVE THEM IN THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE STATE THIS TIME OF YEAR.

BUT IT DOES MAKE ME WONDER IF IT'S AN OMEN FOR A BUSIER SEVERE WEATHER SEASON.

WE'RE HEADING INTO A SUPER EL NINO.

MOST OF THE EXPERTS BELIEVE THAT THIS WILL NOT BE A GARDEN VARIETY EL NINO, WARM PHASE AT THE PACIFIC.

BUT A SUPER EL NINO, POSSIBLY THE STRONGEST EVER RECORDED.

AND THAT CORRELATES STRONGLY WITH MILDER WINTERS HERE.

I WOULD BET A HALF-EATEN STATE FAIR CORN DOG THAT NEXT WINTER WILL BE RELATIVELY MILD WITH CONSIDERABLY LESS SNOW AND MORE RAIN.

BUT HOW IT AFFECTS THE DROUGHT, IS THIS GOING TO BE A FLOOD YEAR, A DROUGHT YEAR?

I DON'T PRETEND TO KNOW.

>> YEAH.

THE MODELS, IT'S A LITTLE DISCONCERTING RIGHT NOW TO LOOK AT THE NORTH AMERICAN ENSEMBLE OF MODELS BECAUSE MOST OF THEM ARE HEDGING TOWARDS A DRY SUMMER FOR MINNESOTA.

AND WE ALL KNOW THAT WE HAVE SOME CARRYOVER DROUGHT YET, YOU KNOW, FROM LAST YEAR.

>> I JUST SAW THE LATEST DATA.

APPARENTLY NATIONWIDE THE DROUGHT IS WORSE THAN IT'S BEEN SINCE THE 1930s, SINCE THE DUST BOWL DAYS.

AND WE HAVE POCKETS OF DROUGHT RIGHT NOW IN MINNESOTA.

>> RIGHT.

ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WORRIES ME, ALL THAT HEAT THEY HAD IN MARCH IN THE WEST, IT AS DRIED OUT THE WESTERN U.S.

AND I WORRY ABOUT, IS THIS GOING TO BE ANOTHER WILDFIRE SMOKE SUMMER.

I HOPE NOT.

WE ALL FANTASIZE ABOUT WHAT THE SUMMERS, OUR AMAZING SUMMERS WILL BE LIKE.

SMOKE CAN OBVIOUSLY PUT A DAMPER ON THAT.

>> Cathy: RIGHT.

>> BUT WE'LL HOPE FOR THE BEST.

>> Cathy: I'M GOING TO SEE YOU SOON.

>> APRIL 29.

>> athy: I KNOW.

>> LANDMARK CENTER.

WE'RE DOING A PROGRAM.

I HOPE PEOPLE COME TO THAT.

WE'RE GOING TO TALK ABOUT 26 YEARS OF MORNING EDITION AND THEN ALL THESE YEARS WE'VE BEEN DOING THE STATE FAIR WEATHER QUIZ.

>> Cathy: I KNOW.

>> Eric: THIS SOUNDS LIKE A SHAMELESS PLUG.

[ Laughter ] >> Cathy: 26 YEARS!

COME ON!

>> ELL DONE.

>> Eric: THANKS, WEATHER SUPER STARS.

>> Cathy: THANK YOU.

>> THANK YOU.

>> Cathy: WE'RE GOING TO GO AHEAD AND SWITCH OUT GUESTS RIGHT NOW.